The Villa Where "Mona Lisa" Was Painted Is Now For Sale

Sure, you can't own the Mona Lisa, but you can own the 16th-century villa where the historic oil on canvas was born.

In the peaceful Tuscan countryside, just three miles from Florence, the Villa Antinori sprawls over 66 lush, green acres and is on the market for the first in more than half a century for $23 million. Silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo owned the villa from 1498 to 1517, during which time he commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint a portrait of his wife, reports Forbes. Surprise: Her name was Lisa.

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Experts believe the Mona Lisa painting was completed between 1503 and 1506.

"There are no documents to prove that [Lisa] lived in the villa, but there is no doubt that it was owned by her husband's family at the time that the Mona Lisa was painted," Ambra Nepi, an agent from Lionard Luxury Real Estate in Florence, told The Telegraph.

A three-storied, buttercream-colored mansion sits on the property, along with a 750-square-foot pool and an 18th-century chapel, according to Forbes. The mansion has eight bedrooms, two kitchens, 11 bathrooms, a library, and a fitness room. Separate entrances lead to a four-room custodian's quarters and two-bedroom apartment. Outside, the land is cushioned with lemon and olive groves, cypress trees, and a floral garden redesigned in the early 1900s by English architect Cecil Pinsent.

While it's known that the villa was last sold by a famous Italian wine-making family to another wealthy Italian family in the 1960s, the current owners wish to remain private, reports The Telegraph. The selling of large, historic properties — especially to foreign buyers — is becoming more common in the country.

"These properties are beautiful, but they are very expensive to maintain and property taxes have increased a lot in recent years," Nepi told The Telegraph.